At the time of this writing, Google reports that over 60% of consumers are searching for local service businesses on their smart phones. Our experience shows the percentage is much higher in some cities. Mediative.com reports that 89% of participants admitted to searching for a local business on their smartphone once a week or more, with 58% searching at least daily.
This information alone can put your business a cut above the competition. This means your site must be either be mobile responsive or must redirect to a separate mobile site if it’s pulled up on a smartphone or tablet. If you don’t make these changes, conversions will most likely drop, and so will your rankings. Google now actually penalizes sites that are not mobile friendly.  We’ve seen sites drop 10 spots or more. This is very important for usability and for getting ranked on Google. 
How To Know If Your Website Is Mobile Ready
Many people think that just because their website shrinks down and shows up a smartphone that their website is mobile ready. This is not always the case. As with other business principles, it is very important to never assume anything. Even if your web designer says your website is mobile friendly, you should still verify for yourself. Many web designers are technically inclined, but are not trained in online marketing and the best practices for reaching your customers.
All you need to do is go to Google and search for “Mobile Website Testing Tool.” This is a free tool that Google provides and it only takes a couple minutes. You can even show your webmaster and teach him or her a thing or two.

Mobile Website Vs. Mobile Responsive Website 
When it comes to mobile websites there are two options, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Both options will pass the Google mobile test, so from an SEO standpoint they are both viable. The one you choose will depend on your specific needs. 
 

• The Separate Mobile Website

 
The first option is to create a separate mobile website. This means when someone lands on your website, they will be automatically redirected to a completely different website that is created specifically for a mobile device. It will have its own unique website address that most of the time is a sub-domain of your primary domain. It will look something like this: m.yourwebsite.com. 
If you don’t understand this technical jargon, don’t worry, it’s not essential information. I just wanted to throw it in for those that want a detailed explanation. Any qualified web designer will understand exactly what I’m talking about.
Years ago when smartphones first started becoming popular, the separate mobile website was the only option. Big West Marketing has created hundreds of these mobile sites, but in my opinion it is the “old way.” It can work for your business, as it did for us in the beginning, but we have since moved to the responsive option for all new clients. I will explain both options in detail so you can make the best choice.
The primary advantage to choosing a separate mobile website is that you have complete control in customizing the site to look and function exactly as you want. The big disadvantage is that you will have to maintain two separate websites. So whenever you make an update or change to your desktop website, you will have to remember to make the changes on the mobile website as well. 
This can be problematic since you (or your web designer) will be working on two separate platforms. It will increase the amount of time and/or money spent on updating or maintaining your website. 
 

• The Mobile Responsive Website

 
These days a fully responsive website is the most popular way to go. Instead of redirecting the visitor to a separate mobile website, your current website will simply respond to the screen size and reorder itself to appear favorably on any device. 
Although you won’t have as much control over how the mobile version looks or functions, you will still have the advantage of maintaining a single website. For a service business, this should be more than sufficient. There are only very special cases where a business would want complete control over the mobile site. An example would be if you sell physical products online. 
Since we are talking about a service-based business, it is my advice to make life easy and go with the mobile responsive option. 
Regardless of which option you choose, your primary goal is to get people to call. Many business owners astound me by forgetting that phone calls are the way the money flows in.  Web designers completely ignore this fact and are looking at the technical side of the website as opposed to the marketing potential. 
On many mobile sites or responsive sites, you will find that the phone number is not even clickable; it’s tiny or just represented by a little icon. Rarely is it at the very top of the site and rarely does it have a call-to-action that tells people what to do. With a very simple tap-to-call button, you can solve these problems and literally double or triple the number of calls coming in.   
Like many of the other techniques and tips you will find in this book, most are just simple tweaks.  Once you can see the power of a large phone number and a call to action, you will wonder why more people don’t think of it. The simple tweaks you make today will make you successful tomorrow.
The Power of a Tap-to-Call Button
I rarely see a service business website with a tap-to-call button. If you implement what I’m about share with you, then you will have a steep advantage over your competition. 
This is probably one of the most powerful ways to make your mobile website work for you. It’s very simple. When a visitor hits your website on a smartphone, you want the first thing they see to be a big phone number button that spans the width of the screen. This needs to be at the top of every page and needs to be accompanied by a call-to-action that says “Tap To Call!” 

Does this idea of a call to action sound familiar? It’s the same idea we discussed in Chapter 1. Just like with the desktop version, you want to make it brain-dead easy for them to contact you. It’s even more important on smart phones because the visitor has an even shorter attention span. They are probably on the go and will just want a quick estimate. They have a problem they want solved and we want to be ready to offer them the solution.
We want prospective clients on the phone so we can book jobs and make money. Don’t make them jump through hoops or work to get you on the phone. A confused mind will turn to the easy solution. Bottom line, you want to make it easy for them to do business with you.
Now that we have the essential usability elements covered, we can talk about some of the subtler customizations that can really make your site pop. In the next chapter, we will discuss the look and feel of your website and how it can help boost conversions even higher. Are you feeling the excitement of easily turning your website into a Job-getting, Deal-closing, 24/7 Money-Making Machine?



Table of Contents

Intro to Book: The Service Business Money Machine
Chapter 1: The Power of Making It Easy
Chapter 2: Navigation Menus and Pages
Chapter 3: Going Mobile
Chapter 4: Website Look and Feel
Chapter 5: Domains, Hosting and Websites
Chapter 6: Building Trust On The Internet
Chapter 7: Video Power!
Chapter 8: Closing the Deal
Chapter 9: SEO – Understanding the Game
Chapter 10: On-site SEO
Chapter 11: Off-site SEO
Chapter 12: Google My Business FAQ
Chapter 13: Facebook Marketing
Chapter 14: Bringing It All Together